Hello all – I have a whole list of things that don’t really flow together but I have time now to write so timeliness wins over literally style this time;

1. My previous post was not spam – apparently my ‘style’ is spamy when I’m excited and don’t edit. I would have to say that your normal spam post does not include the phrases ‘uber card’ or ‘big camera’ but I suppose I see where it does look generic. Anyway… if you skipped that link because it looked spammy look again, this is a very cool idea. I think half of most people’s problems with digital cameras is finding the time to get the pictures out of the camera and ‘to’ wherever they want to share them. I think I would choose to send them to my computer because I still like to edit stuff before I post but it would be cool to have the option to instantly send a pic to Facebook or Flickr. If I want that now I use my iPhone but it really is a lower quality camera then my big camera (Ti Rebel). I also like the geotag feature… I think this will be on my Christmas list and will be given as a gift in the future. Miss Math – I’m talking to you! You need to just set this up to upload directly to a photo printing site so we have a chance of seeing more than 5 pictures of Mr uddles.

2. Plans to kidnap my mother again were short lived – her business that had her out last week was going to happen tomorrow so she was coming out tonight again but the deal fell through… Now we restart but a bit of a bummer both to have the deal fall apart and to not get a surprise extra visit.

3. Random illness and attempted cures – we seem plagued with skin issues. TMI for most I’m sure but poor Zoe has had issues since she started daycare (not related as far as I can tell). Niamh has had what we call eczema that gets worse with stress and while in Fl she got pretty bad and it got infected. Funny enough, the infection looked a lot like one of the conditions Zoe had that the Dr had said was not contagious *however* this skin condition got much better when she (Zoe) was on antibiotics for an ear infection. Niamh was crying it was so painful so we brought he in and she was dosed with many antibiotics and now appears cured. However… now I seem to have developed it and she is right, it is really painful. I had to just deal with it because all the doctors are booked solid but I finally got an apt for tomorrow. Meanwhile, Zoe had a specialist apt last week that was highly unsatisfactory because the dr didn’t believe me that I thought there was more than one thing going on – her original style rash was back – and they just prescribed the same ‘oh you have a rash we can’t explain’ cream that we have already tried and after waiting 3 months for an appointment and doing the treatment on Sunday she is WORSE than ever. I don’t know if her brand of rash is just getting worse, or, she got something from me and/or Niamh but she has had a ton of trouble sleeping for the last few nights. That translates to me not getting to sleep. Not sleeping means I’m more susceptible to infection so now I feel like I’m falling apart because I’m catching every bug out there. HOPEFULLY the dr tomorrow can cure me, but, I also took the day off just to be able to sleep and relax for the first time in a few weeks. I will be calling Zoe’s dr and complaining too… thank goodness Niamh is ok for once! **I’m being very careful to not touch anyone and these things seem to be only transferring after a lot of contact to people with compromised system – ie – Lars is fine

4. On a more cheerful topic I took Niamh and Zoe to my companies hockey tournament last night. It was a spur of the moment decision since Lars was working late and I wouldn’t see him unit 8ish anyway and Niamh had asked about hockey earlier in the winter so I figure why not. It was close, it was free, and if they misbehaved we could leave any time. It was also a perk to know everyone in the stands, and, it was pretty empty so we had tons of room to move around. Niamh loved it and could not get enough of it. She loved the ref, she cheered for him every time he came close. She loved the ice, I don’t know if she meant the ice itself or ice skating but she was enamored. She also repeated everything someone else said so it was a cute parrot voice yelling ‘call it ref!’ every so often. Zoe was amused with the new sights and even let a coworker hold her for a little while. She fell asleep in her carrier on the way to the car she was so pooped from all the excitement. I had to drag Niamh away, she just kept saying ‘No, I want to watch more hockey!’ it was very cute. she also yelled touchdown when someone scored a goal, not sure why since we don’t watch football either but it was a nice way to spend the evening. Oh, the game was good too – everyone was playing nice and it was a fun thing to watch. Finally, I got a chance to use my new telephoto lens and some photography lessons I’ve been reading paid off. I’ll post a few later…

5. Not related to anything but I’ve been meaning to say that my new year’s goals (that I never did list here I think) are going well – one was to wear a dress or skirt every week and so far so good. My idea here is to just upgrade my look to feel better about myself and so far I like it. My other goal was to get better at photography and I’m reading a lot and I think soon I’ll be able to participate in some challenges from the website I’ve been lurking on. Another goal was to use and picture any gifts we get in the year, I’m a bit behind but I’ll get there.

6. Weekend plans – After many odd weekends between traveling and having visitors and an event this weekend we have no out of the ordinary plans. My goal is to get Niamh’s room moved downstairs and we are 50% there. The room is empty and ready to paint. Once the paint is done we can move things since some of the decorating touches can really wait but I have some cool ideas to make the room special for her. When she is moved its time for Zoe to cry it out… not looking forward to that but it’s time that bedtime happened.

Six random mini posts are enough. I’m tired of saying I’m tired and overworked so I’ll skip that story. School is going nicely, I like the class and the teacher but that can get its own post some other time. Zoe is now over 9m old, she has been out longer than she was in J . Back to work – lunch break over and if I’m off tomorrow I have a lot to get done today.

Wow, there are few products out there that make me want to immediately stop what I’m doing to share with someone. Given that the one guy sitting near me is a camera phoebe I will tell you all and hopefully one of you think it’s cool.

This SD card, the eye.fi (http://www.eye.fi/how-it-works/basics) AUTOMATCALLY sends your pictures to either your computer or flicker etc and that is sooooo coooool! This can’t replace my normal uber card in my big camera because there are just way too many pictures that should not see the light of day, but, awesome idea and not all that expensive.

No time no time no time! This week (and last week) are the most busy for me at work because we have a huge seminar that tons of my suppliers go to and while they are ‘in town’ they want to meet with me. This is a good thing, and something I want to do with all my charges in Q1 but it gets a bit hectic. I just walked through the lunchroom and every table is filled with a meeting group because it’s not just me, everyone is meeting in these two weeks.

So, that all coupled with missing a week of work = frantic pace and e-mail box full of undone e-mail.

On the positive side, my mom is visiting! We joke we kidnapped her because she was supposed to leave Tuesday night but her apt here got delayed so she is staying until Saturday. I wish it could have been a week I could take some time off but things happen when things happen and even just seeing her in the evenings is nice. She is joking that I’m abandoning her so she will get bored enough to do laundry or clean the kitchen but really work is eating all my daytime.

Niamh and Zoe are liking having grandma around too. Niamh is demonstrating the fickle and randomness of an almost 3 year old but mostly being good. Zoe is ok enough to be held by grandma if she is in a good mood but likes to smile and wave a lot. Mom is seeing us in ‘normal’ mode, work, practice, the daily routine so while it isn’t exactly a fun and exciting week it is a nice to have an extra set of hands during this hectic.

Valentine’s day feels like a year ago but we all celebrated together with a nice dinner and wine. We made hand dipped chocolates and did a quick visit to a friend to give their family some too. The rest has been nibbled over the week and there is a care package for my sister and dad left at home and some for our friends we see on Friday. Candy is fun to make but there is only so much one should eat. The girls both wore super cute outfits but I didn’t get a picture, maybe they will put them on again on Sunday for a photo op J

This weekend we are going to do our best to get to the even that is a mere 1.5h away. I have a cold but not a really bad one and I know plenty of people going so it should be fun.

Ok, back to work, my break is over and I need to tackle the torrent of e-mail that just keeps pouring in. I just wanted to say ‘Hi’ to everyone out there and that I think things will be settling down soonish so blog reading and writing can recommence.

I’m sure I’m paranoid but I just don’t like advertising when we are going to be out of town. I’m sure the thieves of the world are surfing blogs of random women in the midwest just salivating over my cookie crusted jewelry and finger print covered tv, good luck to them finding anything! Anyway, I’m back, we all made it and I think made the most of it. I’ve talked to a few people and they all want to know how Lars is – from my perspective he is doing very well (personally I would not be doing as well if it were me), he has his off moments but mostly he is doing his best to be there for his family, both our little family and his siblings and extended family. The kids really do keep you externally focused – I did my best to cover most of their needs but I’m glad he was not as checked out as he had the right to be.

The trip was a surprise, as if that wasn’t obvious, but now I know that I can indeed book tickets (south west), car (Alamo via southwest), hotel (Microtel), pack, and, arrange transport (thanks FB!) all in under 24 hours. I did forget shorts for myself but I made do and that was the only notable forget for packing. We actually did worse coming back, between the house and the hotel and the car our stuff was pretty far flung and I lost a few things along the way. Hopefully the lost stuff turns up at the house and we get it back but I’m not holding my breath. The travel was easy, we are pretty good at the airport thing, but that was about the only easy thing. The hotel didn’t have our reservation and Zoe was screaming the entire time I was arguing with the clerk about it – either I was persuasive or Zoe was but we ended up getting the room for a better then list price but Microtel in general was not overly impressive. I should have known that the word ‘micro’ would imply small – the room was nicely designed but tiny, only two drawers and the closet was full of stuff so the stuff had to be moved to the corner of the room to make room for our hanging items. The beds were comfortable but they were badly uneven, like everyone always sleeps on the one side of the bed so the other side is much harder. The worst part was finding a ‘mystery stain’ on one of the decorative bed covers and while they took it away they never replaced it so the beds were mismatched all week. Their queen’s were really doubles so Lars took one bed, Zoe and I got the other, and Niamh got her tent. God bless the peapod, it makes putting her to bed before us doable and while not exactly easy since nylon is not a good sound insulator she was in an isolation zone and would go to sleep while Lars and I watched a show or two. -aside- the tent was a great idea from a site I read and I believe a commentator actually gave her the idea but this purchase has been one great reasons to read blogs! The breakfast was blah the housekeeping was fair but really, it was just a place to keep the stuff and sleep so it served. The major plus was pretty decorating and free internet.

Our day to day doings were odd – it was a mix of funeral and fun and boredom. While writing this in my head I wanted to label this ‘vacation’ as the bath vacation because we ended up taking so many baths and showers it was almost ridiculous. Most vacations we end up being too busy and end up realizing that we really must wash the children after three days of washcloth baths – this time was quite the opposite. Lars’s family all smoke, and, they smoke in the house. I understand that grief needs comfort but I wished I had scuba gear. Every night we all took showers or baths to be able to stand the smell of ourselves. A few nights I just needed a break so Lars brought us to the hotel and went back to the family so to kill time I gave the girls long baths. Zoe also had two epic poop splosions so she got 2 baths those days. Needless to say, even with 90% humidity we all have dry skin due to too many hot showers.

I’m definitely dwelling on details here, but, it feels morbid to write about the funeral itself and disrespectful to detail the fun stuff. For the sake of record keeping the funeral was very nice; lots of people attend, the flowers were pretty and I even helped by making two photo collages on poster board that went over very well. The burial was at a military cemetery so it was done in one of the designated areas rather at the actual resting place. Lars and the immediate family got to go to the site so the girls and I waited at the bathroom/facility building and I can cross cemetery off the ‘places to nurse’ list (didn’t get a pic). The funeral home, Brewer and Sons was great; very nice, very professional and they had every detail covered; they even had dove releasing as part of the package and it was a very nice ending. I’ve only ever been to my hometown local funeral home so it was nice to see what was different and what was the same. Niamh and Zoe were both troopers for both very long days.

For fun stuff; we went to the Tampa Zoo and Niamh proved she has a really good memory by remembering tons of stuff from last year at the same zoo by insisting on doing the same things again. We went to the Homosassa wildlife area and saw lots of rescue animals and manatees that are being rehabbed – the tour came with a boat ride that was pretty cool and the boat ran on silent electric engines. We also went to a beautiful beach for a few hours – I wish my real camera battery didn’t die so fast, half the pictures I posted are from the iPhone and they are not bad, but, the real camera would have been even better. (Dad, before you ask, the battery didn’t deplete quickly, I neglected to charge it or bring the charger so it was user error). Finally, on our way home we stopped at the Dali museum and words can’t really describe how cool a museum it is. They don’t even have his most popular melting clock picture but Dali is soooo much more then melting clocks – he is an impressive artist, way more then I ever guessed. We thought a few hours would be enough but I wish we had all day. Niamh even enjoyed it until she got cranky and fell asleep – the dozen even mentioned how good they were.

So back in the regular world again trying to recoop my lost week. Thankfully the housekeeping lady did her magic and the house was not the the wreck we left. I checked on my email daily while I was there but I didn’t really have time to keep up so tomorrow will be extra busy but nothing I can’t plow through with some extra effort and coffee. In the end I’m glad this is over; there is no more worrying about Lars’s mom – I truly wish she was still with us, but, now she is one less person to worry about. I think I’ll miss her most when I’m black friday shopping, getting her gift was always a primary mission and I’m so glad she really liked what I choose this year. I don’t know when I’ll start ‘deleting’ her, I have her birthday on reoccurring reminders and her phone number in my phone and her face book page bookmarked… odd tangent, what happens to facebook pages of people who die?

I don’t exactly know how to end this meandering post – I suppose I’ll just point you to my flicker to end on a happy note, she would not have wanted a bunch of moping, she was always one to want to get out every day we visited so I’m going to remember the trip in that spirit.